Author: Amanda Falcone

The state House of Representatives observed a moment of silence today for the six people who died in the February 7 Kleen Energy power plant blast in Middletown.

“It was an explosion that was heard around the world,” said Rep. Joseph Serra, D-Middletown.

Rep. Marilyn Giuliano, R-Old Saybrook, singled out Raymond Dobratz, a pipe fitter from her hometown who died in the blast, while Rep. Linda Orange, D-Colchester, spoke about Ronald Crabb, a personal friend. Crabb, of Colchester, was also a pipe fitter.

Also killed in the blast were Peter Chepulis, of Thomaston; Chris Walter, of Florissant, Mo., and Roy Rushton, of Hamilton, Ontario. Peter Haskell, of New Durham, N.H., died of injuries from the explosion.     

Firefighters from South Fire District in Middletown were also honored during the House session. The firefighters were first responders to the blast, and Rep. James O’Rourke III, D-Cromwell, said the state was lucky that a well-trained, professional fire department dealt with the devestating situation.  

“It takes a lot of bravery to go into a scene like that not knowing what’s going to come next,” O’Rourke said.

The tragic Kleen Energy blast brought the issue of work place safety to the forefront, noted Rep. Matthew Lesser, D-Middletown.

The legislature’s judiciary committee held a confirmation hearing Wednesday for those hoping to keep their seats on the Superior Court bench.

One nominee was Superior Court Judge James Bentivegna, of Avon, who sentenced Joshua Komisarjevsky in 2002 for burglaries that occurred in 2001 and 2002. At that time, Bentivegna described Komisarjevsky as a “calculated, cold-blooded predator.”

Bentivegna received attention after Komisarjevsky was arrested on several charges, including capital felony, for his alleged involvement in the 2007 Cheshire home invasion. 

When Bentivegna sat before members of the judiciary committee Wednesday, he said that he does not usually make statements like the pointed ones made during Komisarjevsky’s sentencing.    

His statement prompted committee Co-chairman Michael Lawlor, D-East Haven, to ask if it would have been helpful for the state parole board to see the transcript of the sentencing before allowing Komisarjevsky parole.

Bentivegna responded that he had assumed the pre-sentence investigation would get to the parole board.

“The fact that some of it didn’t is an unfortunate tragedy,” he said.  

The Cheshire home invasion, which resulted in the deaths of Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her daughters, Hayley and Michaela, prompted state lawmakers to reform the criminal justice system. The parole system was scrutinized and changes were made to the way parolees are handled.

Judiciary committee members should not have asked Bentivegna about Komisarjevsky’s prior case given that Komisarjevsky currently has a case pending, said Rep. Ernest Hewett, D-New London.

“Ethically, it doesn’t look right,” Hewett said.

Sen. Andrew McDonald, D-Stamford, co-chairman of the committee, said lawmakers sometimes do ask judges about cases once they have been resolved. Asking Bentivegna about Komisarjevsky was not inappropriate, he said.  

Bentivegna was first nominated to be a Superior Court judge by former Gov. John Rowland in 2002. He is a Republican and served as a family support magistrate before his appointment to the Superior Court bench. He served as legal counsel to Rowland for 1998 to 2000. Prior to that, he served as legal counsel in the state Senate, and he was a public defender in Wisconsin.

The judiciary committee voted in support of Bentivegna’s nomination Wednesday. The full House and Senate still needs to vote on the nomination before his reappointment becomes official. 

Superior Court judges serve eight-year terms.  

The Judicial Branch closed law libraries in Norwich, Milford and Willimantic April 1 because of budget cuts.

Closing the libraries saves the state $289,000, the branch says, adding that there were no layoffs. Staff members were relocated to the state’s 13 remaining law libraries.

If finances do not improve, the branch says it will close three more libraries in Hartford, Bridgeport and Litchfield this summer. Juvenile courthouses in Norwalk and Willimantic would close on or about July 1, and the Superior Court in Bristol would close Jan. 1, 2011.

Money for various expenses in a line item for the Judicial Branch was cut by 17 percent this fiscal year. A few months ago, court officials warned of the closures, adding fuel to a clash between lawmakers and the governor over funding for the branch.

To help the branch, lawmakers are considering a bill that would give the legislature the power to reject certain cuts, known as recissions, in Judicial Branch funding made by the governor during times of fiscal crisis. So far, the bill has passed the legislature’s judiciary and appropriations committee.

Lawmakers passed a similar bill last fall, but it was vetoed by Gov. M. Jodi Rell.

Despite Republican opposition, the finance, revenue and bonding committee passed the Senate Democrats’ jobs bill 31-17 Thursday.

The bill would create a revolving loan fund of up to $20 million to help businesses with less than 50 employees. The new bonding would be paid for by canceling projects that have already been approved by the legislature, but have not been approved by the State Bond Commission.

It would also suspend the $250 business entity tax for two years for businesses with at least one employee and a net income of under $50,000. A tax surcharge on TARP bank workers who get bonuses of more than $1 million is meant to make up for the loss in revenue.

It is the tax on TARP bonuses that is the most controversial provision in Senate Bill No. 1.

Like several of her Republican colleagues, Sen. Toni Boucher, R-Wilton, questioned Thursday if lawmakers should move forward with the proposal if the tax could be found unconstitutional.

Sen. Eileen Daily, D-Westbrook, responded by saying that Democrats found Attorney General Richard Blumenthal’s opinion to be sufficient. Blumenthal recently said that taxing bonuses was “likely” constitutional.

Gov. M. Jodi Rell, who has pledged to veto the tax bonus plan, has also distributed a legal opinion, which said that the legality of the tax proposal would undoubtedly be determined in court.

Republicans also questioned whether a tax on TARP bonuses would generate the revenue anticipated. Initially, Democrats said the tax would bring in about $30 million, but the Office of Fiscal Analysis said Thursday that the tax would bring in between $2.7 million and $4.8 million in fiscal years 2010-2011 and 2011-2012. The office’s estimates were based on actual 2009 wage and employee data from the state Department of Labor and information gathered by New York’s attorney general.

The Office of Fiscal Analysis said Connecticut would loss about $12 million per year beginning in fiscal year 2010-2011 if the business entity tax is suspended for approximately 48,000 businesses.   

The estimates and constitutional questions worry Sen. Andrew Roraback, R-Goshen.

“I think we are on thin ice,” he said.

Republicans called the tax on bonuses unfair and said it would be bad move that would not help the state become business friendly. They also said they wanted the business entity tax repealed for every business, calling the tax punitive. Republicans offered two amendments that would have repealed the tax, but they failed.

The amendments also included several other ways to create jobs in Connecticut. Democrats said they agreed with the concepts, but said Republicans were trying to create an entirely new bill. Daily suggested that Republicans work on a commerce committee bill that already includes some of the ideas they presented Thursday.   

Senate Bill No. 1, which passed the finance committee with only minor changes, will now move forward in the legislative process.   

As the deadline for filing tax returns nears, State Comptroller Nancy Wyman says the state’s revenue remains flat.

The projected 2010 budget deficit stands at $371 million after the delay of a $100 million payment to the state’s pension fund. A $47 million Medicaid savings tied to the federal stimulus program also helps.

Wyman says the deficit is driven by weak collections in nearly all major tax categories. The two largest shortfalls are in the income tax and sales tax, she says.

The fiscal year’s final numbers will depend on how much income tax is collected around the April 15 deadline, Wyman says.

Wyman’s estimates are based on a $18.6 billion budget. It is about $14.5 million higher than the projection made by the Office of Policy and Management, the governor’s budget office.

Lawmakers are considering a bill that would require the governor to declare March 30 of each year Vietnam Veterans Day. It would also make “Taps” by Daniel Butterfield the state song of rememberance.

The bill was unanimously passed by both the legislature’s veterans affairs and government administration and elections committees this session. It must now be voted on by the full General Assembly and signed by the governor before it can become law.

According to language in the bill, March 30 would commemorate and honor the return home of members of the armed forces who served in Vietnam.

To honor Vietnam veterans, Rep. Ted Graziani, D-Ellington, co-chairman of the veterans affairs committee, is holding a Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans ceremony tonight at 6:30 p.m. at the legislative office building.  

Connecticut would not be the first state to declare March 30 Vietnam Veterans Day. Some states already hold celebrations, as do some Connecticut towns.

The legislature’s judiciary committee passed a bill that would lessen the penalty for sexting between two consenting minors Monday, but it chose not to act on several other high-profile bills.

Monday’s committee agenda listed over 75 bills, but lawmakers only voted on about half of them. Among the bills that were not addressed are the following:

– A bill that would make it illegal for registered sex offenders to live within 2,000 feet of a public or private school or day care facility, House Bill No. 5486.

– A bill that would have shortened the post-conviction process in death penalty cases, House Bill No. 5445.

– A bill that would have increased the fines for those who violated school bus regulations.

In addition to the sexting bill, the committee did pass a bill that would change the statute of limitations for civil lawsuits in child sexual abuse cases.

Rep. Michael Lawlor, D-East Haven, co-chairman of the committee, said that the committee had a limited time to act on any bills and, as a result, it had to make choices. Committee members were polled and the bills were brought forward for debate if there was enough interest, he added.

The bills that were not voted on died in committee, but some could appear as amendments to bills that made the cut, Lawlor said.

The judiciary committee meeting has until 5 p.m. today to act on any bills. Included on the committee’s lenthy agenda is a bill about death penalty, a bill about sexting and at least two bills about firearms.

Today’s meeting began at 10 a.m., but committee members decided to caucus before voting on a variety of issues and have been behind closed doors all morning.

The death penalty bill would shorten the post-conviction process in death penalty cases. It would also allocate money for more training for prosecutors and public defenders, would require that confessions be videotaped and includes a provision that would allow victims to address a jury before, rather than after, a verdict is determined.

Unlike a bill that lawmakers considered last year, this year’s bill would not repeal the death penalty.    

The sexting bill would lessen the penalty for sexting between two consenting minors. Currently, it is a felony for children under 18 to send or receive text messages that include nude or sexual images, a practice known as sexting. If found guilty, the minor would be required to register as a sex offender.

The bill, proposed by Rep. Rosa Rebimbas, R-Naugatuck, would make sexting between two consenting minors a Class A misdemeanor. Doing so would give the courts more options, Rebimbas says, keeping consenting children from having felony charges on their records.

One firearms bills would allow those who are prohibited under federal law from possessing or receiving firearms because of their mental or developmental disabilities to petition the probate court to get their rights restored.

Another firearms bill would make changes to firearms regulations. For example, the bill would require someone purchasing a firearm to notify the Department of Public Safety within 24 hours, and it would prohibit an alien without legal permanent resident status from purchasing a firearm. It would also change the blood alcohol limit for the offense of carrying a firearm while intoxicated to achieve parity with the level of offense of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated. Currently, the blood alcohol limit for carrying a firearm while intoxicated is 0.1 percent. The new limit would be 0.08.   

The legislature’s finance, revenue and bonding committee passed a bill Thursday that would extend the current conveyance tax rates until 2012. It would also expempt homeowners who are facing foreclosure or who have homes worth less than what they owe from the tax.  

The committee vote was 35-15.

Most municipalities receive 0.25 percent of a property’s sale price. More distressed communities, such as Hartford and New Haven, get 0.50 percent of the sale price. 

Prior to 2003, the conveyance tax was 0.11 percent. The tax was increased in 2003 in the midst of a state budget deficit, but was set to revert back to the original rate the following year. The General Assembly, however, has consistently extended the tax increase, and now cities and towns rely on the revenue.

The increases are now set to expire at the end of this fiscal year. If they do, it would leave a hole in municipal budgets. The rate would drop to 0.11 percent for most cities and towns and 0.36 percent for distressed communities. 

The conveyance tax has become a controversial issue at the Capitol, and special interest groups heavily lobby lawmakers about the tax.

The Connecticut Conference of Municipalities is in favor of extending the increases and would like to see the increases made permanent, but the Connecticut Association of Realtors disagrees. Realtors say the increases were never meant to be a revenue stream for cities and towns, and they say that the tax means double taxation for homeowners.

There is also a state conveyance tax that is 0.5 percent or 1 percent of the sale price depending on the type of property. 

Richard McGonigal, of Norwalk, wants to see tougher penalties for those guilty of negligent homicide, and he submitted written testimony to the legislature’s judiciary committee Wednesday, asking lawmakers to pass a bill that would raise the maximum sentence for negligent homicide from 6 months to two years.

McGonigal lost his wife in February 2007 when a truck driver fell asleep at the wheel. McGonigal said the driver was charged with negligent homicide and only had to pay a $200 fine after a plea deal allowed him to plead guilty to a reduced charge of failure to maintain the established lane.

McGonigal is awaiting the start of a civil trial for wrongful death.

McGonigal said that raising the maximum sentence for negligent homicide would give prosecutors leverage, allowing them to pursue a plea agreement that would ensure that the person pleads guilty to a felony, pays a significant fine and agrees to do extensive community service. The passage of the bill would bring honor and respect to victims of negligent homicide and their families, he wrote in his testimony.

Relatives of Angel Arce Torres, the Hartford man who was killed in a hit-and-run accident in 2008 on Park Street, also testified in favor of the bill Wednesday, but state Rep. Michael Lawlor, D-East Haven, said negligent homicide did not apply to Torres’ case.

Luis Negron, the driver who hit Torres, pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter and evading responsibility, charges that could come with a combined maximum sentence of 30 years in prison. Negron’s sentencing is scheduled for May 3.

When it comes to increasing negligent homicide penalties, Chief State’s Attorney Kevin Kane warned lawmakers in his written testimony to be careful and to consider other existing penalties for other offenses that would not be changed by the bill.

“We do not doubt that this bill comes before the committee with the best of intentions; however, it would result in an inconsistent and imbalanced statutory scheme,” Kane said.

Corey Brinson, 30, of Bloomfield, is running for secretary of the state.

The Republican owns and practices law at Corey J. Brinson LLC in Hartford. He served in the Connecticut Air National Guard until he was honorably discharged in 2004.

Brinson has both a bachelor’s degree in political science and a law degree from the University of Connecticut.

This is his first time running for political office, but he has led several organizations. Gov. M. Jodi Rell appointed Brinson as a commissioner of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission in 2006.

If elected, Brinson said he wants to encourage people to run for political office at both the state and local levels. He also intends to advocate for the repeal of the business entity tax and other unnecessary filing fees, and he wants to create and run a commission for young professionals.

Brinson said he is an average person running for political office, but notes that he is probably the youngest candidate who will run for a statewide seat.

“You don’t have to be a Greenwich millionaire to make it in Connecticut politics,” he said, referencing this year’s U.S. Senate race.

For more information on Brinson, visit his Web site.

There’s plenty to see and taste at Agriculture Day at the Capitol today, but the baby chickens may be getting the most attention.

The more than a dozen chickens belong to Gary Proctor, of Bolton, president of Gourm Avian Farms LLC, and they were hatched Wednesday. The chickens played with one another as those attending Agriculture Day watched.

“How cute,” one woman said.

“People are just captivated by the chicks,” said Rep. Pam Sawyer, R-Bolton.  

Proctor said four different kinds of chickens are on display. There are grey broilers, red broilers, white-feathered chickens and brown chickens. The eggs for the red broilers were directly imported from Italy, Proctor noted, explaining that those chickens will be used on the organic, specialty market.

While the grey, white and red chickens will be slaughtered when there are between 6 and a half and 10 weeks old, the brown chickens will be expected to lay eggs. New chickens are needed to keep his business going, Proctor said.

While the baby chickens may be captivating the audience, the other goodies available at the Capitol have not gone unnoticed. Apple wedges and cider are provided by the Connecticut Apple Growers. There are also aple syrup samples, cider donuts, and the School Nutrition Association of Connecticut is even handing out pieces of butternut squash cake.

And for those who like to plan ahead, the Connecticut Christmas Tree Growers Association is onhand to provide information.

Rep. Bryan Hurlburt, D-Tolland, is using Agriculture Day to draw attention to a bill he proposed. His bill would allow farmers to sell acidified food products they produce, such as pickles and salsa, directly from their farms or at a farmers’ market. It would also increase the number of turkeys and chickens that farmers can produce yearly, establish a Farm Training Jobs Program through the Department of Agriculture and redirect federally-collected milk fees to the Connecticut Milk Promotion Board for the purpose of promoting dairy farms and milk consumption.

Hurlburt expects the legislature’s environment committee to vote on his bill Friday.   

Sen. Thomas Gaffey, D-Meriden, the co-chairman of the legislature’s education committee, knows what it is like to get a concussion.

He played football for Maloney High School in Meriden in the 1970s when he was injured.

“It was the scariest injury I ever had,” Gaffey said, adding that he was lucky that someone recognized what was wrong.

Not every coach, however, knows how to deal with head traumas, and they are usually not trained medical professionals, Gaffey said, saying that there is a need to make sure that coaches learn about concussions and that doctors are the ones who diagnose head injuries.   

The education committee held a public hearing Wednesday to hear testimony on a bill that would make sure coaches receive regular training on concussions and the proper treatment for the injury. The training would be part of routine training for coaches and would not result in any extra costs for school districts. 

The bill would also require student athletes to be pulled from intramural and interscholastic athletic competitions if they show signs of a concussion or if they have a concussion. It would require the athletes to get medical clearance before returning to competition if they sustained a head injury or concussion.

There was wide support for the bill at the hearing. Coaches, athletic trainers and other medical professionals said the bill is needed.

“It’s time to get serious,” said Julie Peters, executive director of the Brain Injury Association. “It’s time to protect youth from needless disabilities.”

If the bill passes, Connecticut will become the third state in the country to have a law about concussions and athletics. Oregon and Washington already have such a law. 

Experts say that high school athletes sustain at least 100,000 concussions a year in the United States, and they add that concussions can happen to both boys and girls. It is not just a football injury, he say.

The state’s technical high school system will get new buses– ones that are equipped with seat belts.

The State Bond Commission approved $2 million Tuesday that will be used to purchase 40 new school buses for the system.

Last month, The Courant reported that nearly 60 percent of the system’s buses had serious safety violations last year. The governor announced that she would bond for new buses on the same day the article was published.

At a February forum, Sen. Thomas Gaffey, co-chairman of the education committee, said that several parents of technical school students told him that students were not being bused to job sites and athletic events because the system’s buses were inoperable.

The last time the technical school system received money to update its fleet was August 2006, when the state Department of Education bought 23 buses. Since then, education officials have tried to get $2.7 million each year to buy and repair buses, but have not been able to do so.

The governor is requiring that the buses have seat belts because of the death of 16-year-old Vikas Parikh, of Rocky Hill, who died as a result of a January bus crash on I-84.

In addition to impacting the technical school bus request, Parikh’s death also prompted a proposal that would require all new school buses purchased in 2012 or after to have seat belts. That bill was passed by the transportation committee Monday.

The legislature’s transportation committee modified a controversial bill that would install electronic tolls at state borders. Now, the bill only calls for the Department of Transportation and other state and federal agencies to develop a plan for operating electronic tolls at Connecticut’s borders.

The plan would be submitted to the transportation committee by January 12 ,2011.

Despite the major changes to the bill, several committee members were reluctant to support the measure Monday, saying that they do not want tolls in the state.

Supporters of the bill said the committee needs to find new revenue it can use to pay for expensive transportation projects.

The transportation committee passed the bill 19-17 Monday.

A bill that would require lap-and-shoulder, or three-point, seat belts on school buses was passed by the transportation committee Monday 29-7.   

The bill would require all new school buses to have seat belts if they are purchased in 2012 or after. This is a change from the original language of the bill, which would have required all school buses to have seat belts by January 2011. 

Monday’s vote marked the first time that a bill requiring seat belts on school buses has made it out of of the transportation committee. Twenty-three other seat belt bills have been proposed over the past two decades, but they failed to get enough support. 

Rep. Antonio Guerrera, D-Rocky Hill, co-chairman of the committee, proposed this year’s seat belt bill after Vikas Parikh, 16, of Rocky Hill, died as a result of a January school bus crash on I-84. Parkih’s family and friends came to the legislative office building in February to testify in favor of the bill. They believe that a seat belt would have saved Parikh’s life.

Only six states have laws that require seat belts on school buses, including New York and New Jersey. Connecticut could become the seventh. 

Guerrera said that while his committee voted on the bill Monday, it is still a work in progress, and several committee members said they voted in favor of the bill because they trust that more work will be done. 

Lawmakers like Sen. Donald DeFronzo, D-New Britain, the other committee co-chairman, said he voted in favor of the bill to continue the conversation about safety.

“There is no more important issue than the issue of child safety,” DeFronzo said.

Those who voted against the bill said they did so because of financial concerns. The state is dealing with a budget deficit and cities and towns are struggling, they said, adding that they worry that requiring seat belts on school buses is an unfunded mandate.   

Connecticut turns 375 this year, and government officials plan to update residents on anniversary events and contests via Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

“Social networking sites are the town squares of this generation,” said Gov. M. Jodi Rell in a prepared statement issued Sunday.

Here is how you can use technology to get the scoop on upcoming events:

Twitter 

YouTube 

Facebook

Note that the state’s newly-created Facebook page already has over 230 fans, including Rell and Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele. The page features pictures taken at the anniversary’s February kickoff event, which was held at the Connecticut State Library.  

Only 10 people, however, are following anniversary news on Twitter. Anniversary coverage on YouTube has brought 42 channel views. 

The transportation committee’s chairman says his committee will vote Monday on a bill that would require seat belts on school buses.

The committee is scheduled to meet at 11 a.m. in room 1C of the legislative office building.

The bill, House Bill 5033, calls for the installation of lap-and-shoulder, or three-point, seat belts on school buses by January 1, 2011. It would also allow the commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles to suspend the registration of any bus that does not have seat belts installed.  

Rep. Antonio Guerrera, D-Rocky Hill, the committee’s co-chairman, proposed the bill after 16-year-old Vikas Parikh, of Rocky Hill, died as a result of a January bus crash on I-84.

Parikh’s family and friends came to the legislative office building last month to testify in favor of Guerrera’s bill. They say seat belts would have saved Parikh’s life.   

Only six states have passed laws requiring seat belts on school buses, including New York and New Jersey. In Connecticut, 23 bills require belts on buses have been proposed over the past two decades, but none have made it out of committee.

A Quinnipiac University poll conducted this year showed that three out of four state residents support requiring seat belts on school buses.

Groups, such as the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education, the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities and the Connecticut School Transportation Association, oppose the bill. They worry about the costs associated with putting seat belts on school buses and say they are unnecessary because of compartmentalization — the cushy, high-backed seats that are placed close together on buses to absorb impact.     

Rudy Marconi, first selectman of Ridgefield, kicked off Friday’s debate on electronic tolls. He testified at a transportation committee public hearing in favor of a bill that would place electronic tolls at Connecticut’s state borders.

Money from the tolls would be used as a revenue source for the state’s special transportation fund.

Marconi stressed that Connecticut is facing unprecedented financial difficulties and must do something to increase revenue. Putting tolls at state borders is one of the best alternatives, he said, noting that he wants to preserve state funding to municipalities.

“I think we need to begin that conversation, and we can’t wait,” Marconi said of tolls.

The state is facing an estimated $500 million deficit for this fiscal year.

Rep. Antonio Guerrera, D-Rocky Hill, co-chairman of the transportation committee, supports putting tolls at state borders and said Friday that if Connecticut does not install tolls this year, it will likely do so in the near future.

“We need to support our infrastructure, and we can’t rely on the federal goverment as much as we use to,” he said.

Guerrera added that vehicles are becoming more fuel efficient and people are going to fill up their gas tanks less. This means the state will bring in less money from the gas tax, which should be used for transportation initaitives, but is often used for other purposes.

Guerrera wants to cut the gas tax in half if border tolls are installed.

Marconi and Guerrera’s comments prompted several committee members to chime in, voicing their opinions about tolls.

Rep. Steven Mikutel, D-Griswold, said he believes border tolls would put an unfair burden on residents living in towns near state lines. Those people are the ones who are more likely to cross those borders, he said, adding that residents will surely try take secondary roads to avoid paying tolls. This could cause more accidents on those secondary roads, he said.

Marconi disagreed, saying that people would not change their travel plans to avoid paying money.

“People in this society are in a hurry to get from point A to point B,” he said.

Like Mikutel, others also expressed concern over the polls proposal, saying charging people to cross state borders is not the answer.

Rep. Russell Morin, D-Wethersfield, said while he was inititally reluctant to support a bill that would install tolls in Connecticut, he is committed to listening to speakers like Marconi. It is important to discuss the issue, he said, adding that his opinion about tolls has changed dramatically over the past six months.

Tolls would not be new to Connecticut. The state had tolls for years, but decided to close them after seven people died in a 1983 crash at a Stratford toll plaza. All tolls were closed by 1986. Tolls were once located on I-95 and Route 52 from Greenwich to Plainfield, at the Hartford area bridges and on the Merritt and Wilbur Cross parkways.

Morin’s step father, former state senator and representative Michael Morano, was co-chairman of the transportation committee when the legislature decided to close the tolls. Tolls were closed to keep roads safe, Morin said,

Last year, the state’s transportation strategy board hired a private company to study the management of traffic congestion in Connecticut and the revenue that would be raised from tolls. The company’s report projected that charging $3 tolls at seven heavily-used state borders would generate nearly $600 million a year by 2015.    

Stores will not be able to sell alcohol on Sundays. A bill that would allow them to do so died in the program review and investigations committee Thursday.

The committee did not vote on the matter, and it will not meet again before tomorrow — its last day to act on any bills.

Sen. John Kissel, R-Enfield, co-chairman of the committee, said he did not force a vote on the Sunday sales bill because he did not have enough votes.

“I know how to count,” said Kissel, who represents multiple communities along the Massachusetts border.

Ben Jenkins, a spokesman for the Washington, D.C.-based Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, said, “We applaud Sen. Kissel’s leadership for holding a public hearing on Sunday sales.  Connecticut still faces a major budget shortfall, and we urge state leaders to continue considering Sunday sales as one means to raise some much-needed revenue.”

DISCUS represents the national liquor manufacturers, who are strongly in favor of Sunday sales. Connecticut’s wine and spirits wholesalers, as well as the beer wholesalers, have backed the package store owners to prevent Sunday sales. 

Kissel says he still believes stores should be able to sell alcohol on Sundays and hopes the idea will be included in future finance, revenue and bonding committee bills. He, however, said he does not expect Sundays sales to be considered further this legislative session.

Kissel hopes to be able to have more statistics on hand for future discussions. He says those who testified at a public hearing on the bill earlier this month focused on just the sales tax when they said the state would not get substancial additional revenue from allowing alcohol sales seven days a week. The $8 million figure included in a program review and investigations committee report on Sunday sales took into account with the state sales tax and the excise tax, he said, adding that he is asking his staff for greater details.  

Although Kissel’s co-chairwoman does not want alcohol to be sold on Sundays, Rep. Mary Mushinsky, D-Wallingford, says she also believes the state would get some extra cash by changing the law. She, however, said she is opposed to raising revenue from controlled substances like alcohol, and she vowed to work against the idea if it came before the finance committee.